Driver faces 5th OVI charge after 5-car accident

Police say a Montville Township woman was charged for the fifth time with operating a vehicle while intoxicated after she caused a five-car accident Thursday afternoon, which sent four people to the hospital with minor injuries.

The crash happened at about 3 p.m. in the westbound lane of state Route 18 near Eastpointe Drive, when a 2010 Ford Edge driven by Michelle Kupec, 45, of 3735 Turnberry Drive, rear-ended a car stopped at a traffic light, setting off a chain-reaction crash that involved three more vehicles driven by Medina residents.

Reports said Kupec’s vehicle stuck a 2013 Honda Accord driven by Edward Hornyak, 55, of Medina. The impact pushed his car into the rear end of a 2012 Ford Escape driven by Melissa King, 42. King’s car was pushed into the tail of a 2012 Suzuki SX4 driven by Lisa Mangual, 25, which then struck the back of 2008 GMC Envoy driven by Irene A. Beganyi-Burg, 61.

Beganyi-Burg’s vehicle was the only one that did not need to be towed from the scene.

Mangual and her two children, Maisen, 3, and Milah, an infant, were taken to Medina Hospital for precautionary treatment of minor injuries, as was Hornyak.

Kupec was charged with following too closely and operating a vehicle impaired. She refused to submit to a portable Breathalyzer test, but was arrested at the scene on suspicion of driving under the influence. She was cited later and driven home, according to police reports.

The charges were filed Friday.

Medina Township police Sgt. Sheri Mangel said Kupec had OVI convictions in 1998 and 2000 in Medina Municipal Court. She had another OVI conviction in 1995 in Brook Park in Cuyahoga County. Her first was in 1987, also in Medina. All four were under her previous married name, Michelle Boger.

Kupec is due in court Wednesday before Medina Municipal Court Judge Dale Chase.